Tag Archives: #ScrapDance

Everyone is working on their units from April fairly quickly this time. Lots of shares on Flickr show the variety of colors and choices, so fun for me to see it coming together!! You know, if you haven’t begun yet, it isn’t too late to catch up. The last two months will be really easy, so if you would like to quilt along, click HERE to see the beginning. Each post has a link to the next one. I give you a full range of sizes from table topper up to king size. The next step is next Friday.

I think Ranch Wife’s western prints are really fun. Isn’t this a cute way to display her progress?

Kristi’s modern prints in bold colors are looking good.

Elaine, I just adore an autumn palette. This is going to be beautiful.

Susan’s blues with grey remind me of the ocean. I hope your studio set up is coming along!

Mary shared her progress with her blues and golds, lovely. Hey, I recognize that pebble fabric, LOL!!

Edy had hers done in a flash last month.

Brenda is catching up, she had some family health issues to take care of with her elderly parents, so I hope they are doing well now.

This is getting really exciting. Just another week until the next step! You have plenty of time to catch up, as the next steps go really fast. A month between steps will seem too long soon, LOL!!

And just so you know, you can always share older Scrap Dance finishes when you get them finished. Jeannine shared her original Scrap Dance in bright batiks recently, love these colors!

Are you quilting along? Please, share your progress in the Scrap Dance Flickr group. If you missed any steps, or you are just now finding this post, click on the category of 2017 Scrap Dance Mystery Two Step on the sidebar to see all the posts for the mystery.

If you are visiting from a linkup, please stay a while and look around. My blog is a variety of subjects, quilting and sewing, tablescapes and recipes, book reviews and hand stitching, crafting and mountain living. My tutorials are gathered at the top in pages to make them easy to find. Lots of fun is had here, but I don’t link up every post, or the steps on my mystery quilts. I love to have new followers, too! See the buttons on the sidebar to follow by your favorite method. It isn’t too late to start they mystery quilt going on now, just click on the icon on the side bar to start. It will go until July, with shares of finishes over the following months.

I did another Scrap Dance Quickstep quilt, this time using just nine strips. Sewing long strips is a lot easier than individual squares. These strips are left over from the Moda Bake Shop recipe I did for a Pin Woven Tote (link on sidebar). I sewed sets of three strips.

Then I cross cut them 2-1/2-inches wide, sewing one of each set together to make a nine patch.

Using the leftover purple coordinating fabric, I made the large block HSTs, then laid them out on the cutting table to play with them. I liked the idea of flying geese, and having them go different directions was fun. I liked the parallelograms formed by the purple with this design too.

Sewing the HSTs together into flying geese units went quickly, chain piecing.

Did you know that the key to perfect points is to sew the final seam through the ‘X’? I didn’t learn that little tidbit until I had been quilting for over a year.

In short order, I had the top together.

Loading it up went fast too, as it is fairly small.

I needed to get it quilted fast, so I just did a freehand loop. It was loaded, quilted and trimmed in less than 2 hours.

I did a rather plain backing, using a taupe color polyester thread with Bottom Line in the bobbin.

I call this one Migrating geese, as they are going north, then south, then north again.

I used extra jelly roll strips to make the binding.

One thing to notice about this block design, some of the corners will get cut off of the squares as the HSTs are made. This is unavoidable due to the strip method of putting them together. Just be aware that a quilt judge will likely not understand it and criticize the cut off points.

I don’t plan to show any Quickstep quilt, but in spite of that limitation, I still think the block design is a keeper! They will make great gifts and charity quilts.

The pattern for Scrap Dance Quickstep is now available on Craftsy! Pattern contains three sizes of block, with nine original setting designs and four classic designs. Use up your scraps and make 14 different quilts! Perfect for beginners, and for making up fast charity and gift quilts in a hurry.

The pattern is offered at the special intro price of just $5 for 14 designs especially for you, faithful reader. It is like getting a whole book of patterns for less than the usual price of one! Click on Scrap Dance Quickstep. Thank you for helping to support my blog!

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Quilting Scrap Dance Tango was a bit different than my usual pantograph. This time, I decided to do a pantograph design in the interior, and custom quilt the borders. Longarm quilters call this a semi-custom job. It is a bit trickier than it looks because the quilting in the pieced section has a definite stopping point, and I didn’t hit it exactly right each pass.

I ironed it with my favorite solution of half Best Press and half water. It came out pretty flat! Just a minor pucker here and there in the piecing.

Loading the top on the longarm, the bottom is folded up to to the roller so I can see that the borders are put on right. I took this picture before I changed the thread. I used King Tut in a variegated green, solid green Bottom Line in the bobbin, and Warm and Natural cotton batting.

After stabilizing the edges, and stitching in the ditch around the borders, I placed the machine head at the edge of the pieced area, needle down so it would stay put. Then, I placed a clamp on the rail underneath to stop me from going into the border.

Even so, I still managed to bump it a bit on this pass.

So I went back and picked that overage out. Then forgot to remeasure the clamp, so I got this next time.

So I had to pick that out too, the rest of the pantograph area went fairly well. Then I turned to the first light border. I wanted a regular loop as the width was a bit too much for ribbon candy. I marked regular intervals with a water erasable pen, using the folded paper method.

I quilted the loops, going around each mark. That little bit of overage from the pantograph was just left as it was. I should go back and pick it out, but I’ll decide on that later.

I soaked the marks with Sew Clean, works like a charm to take out the blue marks.

First border done.

Now for the outer border, I decided on my favorite bead board as the print is pretty busy.

The binding is a solid green, the same as the backing.

A few nights of slow stitching, and the quilt was done.

I like this one just as much as the first Scrap Dance. Maybe even more since it has a lot of green, and a bit of blue to keep it from looking too autumn-like.

Mine is 9 blocks x 7 blocks, (a throw size without borders) and this is a queen size bed. The blocks finish at 8 inches, and I need two more rows top to bottom and five more side to side to have a nice drop on all sides and get the top edge under the pillows and up to the headboard.

Thanks so much to Marsha who found an error in my instructions for the throw size. I just goofed with the calculation, dividing when I should have multiplied. I really should have noticed that the numbers for the throw should have been larger than the lullaby. Anyway, I have corrected the posts, and corrected the pdf downloads. To see all the Tango posts, just click on the sidebar category of 2016 Scrap Dance Tango. The pattern is coming along and I hope to have it done in mid-July for downloading on Craftsy. I’ll be putting both setting designs in as well. Thank you all for your wonderful comments on Tango!

And in other news, the Scrap Dance Quickstep pattern has been completed and uploaded to Craftsy! Get it while it is at its introductory price of just $5 for 14 quilt designs! Dasha in Australia has already Quickstepped a top! See her version here. I have created 14 setting designs (5 classic and 9 original), and all are included along with three block sizes. Yes it includes the Garden Maze setting! Pattern sales help support the costs of my blog, and that includes things like domain costs and shipping giveaway prizes. So, hop over to my Craftsy Store and get Scrap Dance Quickstep! or any of my Craftsy Patterns. Christmas in July will have several chances to win, so more fun coming up soon! While you are on Craftsy, upload pictures of your completed Scrap Dance quilts on the pattern page, by scrolling down on the right side to the button “Add a Finished Project”. And you are welcome to post finished Quickstep quilts in our Scrap Dance Flickr group.

And in other news, I have completed 10 more hours of CEU, and my tests, so I am doing the happy dance!

The Scrap Dance Tango mystery is complete. Thank you to all who participated. I hope you will consider purchasing the pattern, as it is those sales that support the costs of the blog and make it possible to bring you new and free projects. Click on Scrap Dance Tango! Thank you!!

After looking at the pieced Quickstep Garden Maze top for a bit, I considered adding a border of brown or looking for a rock or stone print to mimic a stone wall around the garden. Ultimately, I decided it would look best with borders of the same green. So I added those using the proper border technique (see my quilt borders tutorial for details).

Loading up on the longarm, those wrinkles you see in the top smoothed out with just a bit of Best Press/Water spritz and a little steam.

Amazingly, even with the bias edges, I think the way the sewing was done using the HST technique kept the stretch to a minimum. I didn’t see any B-cups on the quilt. It flattened out nicely.

I decided to quilt it with my favorite dense pantograph, Plumeria Gardens by Lisa Calle at Intelligent Quilting. The thread is a polyester in a taupe color, which adds just a bit of shine. The bobbin has Bottom Line.

The pantograph is a large flower which fit with the overall theme of the quilt as a Garden Maze. I used my favorite Warm and Natural Batting.

When the quilting was done, I decided to bind it in the same fabric for continuity.

Working on the binding during Slow Stitching days.

All done!

I have decided to put a pdf pattern in my Craftsy store, based on the lovely comments and feedback. I was also playing in EQ7 and have come up with 10 setting designs, some traditional but at least four totally original. Find the pattern HERE.

I haven’t decided about putting it in the Mountain Regional State Fair. I just got my entry catalog in the mail this week, and the categories have changed a bit. It looks like a change for the better too, with the largest category split into two sizes. But the way the quilt is made cuts off some corners on some squares, and I think that will not sit well with a judge. Since I cannot explain that the corners are a consequence of the technique, I’m sure it will get points off. Perhaps I can put it in the crafting section under Senior Quilted Item, and save the quilting category for Scrap Dance Tango, will give that some thought.

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I have been at it again, and I have a new design to share with you all, the next one in the Scrap Dance Series. This design idea was so simple ( as in ridiculously simple), I am amazed that it hasn’t been done already and all over the web. But, I wasn’t able to find anything like it, so here goes! You know we all have leftover jelly roll strips, ends of bolts, and various strips from projects, all 2-1/2 inches wide by the width of the fabric. Quickstep will give you a way to use them up, and create a great top faster than you would think! Just a couple of Quicksteps!

Start by sewing together 16 different jelly roll or WOF strips in sets of four. I had a bunch of floral fabrics that I used.

After they are sewn, press the seams going all the same direction.

Cross cut into 2-1/2 inch strips.

Arrange the units in a pleasing way.

Sew the units together, with one from each set of fabrics to make a square.

Cut 16 squares of solid fabric 8-1/2 inches square.

Mark a diagonal line on the back.

Pair a solid square with a pieced square right sides together. Sew 1/4-inch on either side of the line just like making the little HSTs.

Cut apart and press toward the solid color.

Now you have 32 blocks! These can go together however you like, in whatever way suits your style. Just like the light/dark log cabin blocks, these can create the same looks, and much faster.

Maybe you are a bargello fan.

Or maybe the offset diamond fits you better.

How about all going one direction?

Or a square set on point?

Double your strips to two of each color, and 32 solid squares and get 64 total blocks. This will allow some larger design opportunities. I made more and decided to use an asymmetrical placement. The floral fabrics and green solid look like garden paths of grass to see all the pretty flowers. I am not much of a modern quilter, but this really appeals to me.

I kept playing with the blocks, adjusting and changing the design.

I started thinking about it like a maze, with some of the paths having no way out.

I have been working on it for a couple weeks, between trips out of town and other projects. I’ll show you how I finish it soon. It has a lot of stretch due to the bias edges in the center of the blocks, so I think I will use a pantograph. I still haven’t decided whether or not to put a border on.

This idea lends itself to other combinations too, like using only three strips and 6-1/2 inch solid squares. It would use up those ends of jelly rolls you used for other quilts. You can also cut strips from your fat quarters. Want a larger block? Use five strips and 10-1/2 inch solid squares. Versatile and fast!

What do you think about Quickstep?

Update! I have completed a pattern for Quickstep, and added 14 different setting designs!! It is available on my Craftsy store, available HERE. I appreciate all purchases from my stores as they support the costs of the blog so I don’t have flashing ads and moving distractions.

My blog is about a variety of topics, quilting and sewing, crafting and cooking, reading and travel, mountain living and gardening, and more. You can follow my blog in several ways, see the sidebar for email sign up or blog-reader links. I have lots of free patterns for quilters, mystery quilt alongs, holiday quilt alongs, and seasonal events with giveaways. Please follow me for all the fun! New projects coming up!!

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The Scrap Dance Tango mystery is complete. Thank you to all who participated. The pattern is now available in my Craftsy store. Click on Scrap Dance Tango! I hope you will consider purchasing the pattern, as it is those sales that support the costs of the blog and make it possible to bring you new and free projects. Thank you!!

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